Fall 2017

At the time of this writing, I am just getting over the tragedy at Las Vegas. I still can’t comprehend how a human being could do this to other human beings. I can’t imagine the extreme grieving that all those families will have to deal with for many years to come. I know my family is still reeling from the unexpected loss of our family member two years ago. Add this to the devastating natural events the world is dealing with, the earthquake in Mexico, Hurricanes in Houston, Florida and most recently, Puerto Rico. Plus we can’t forget the crisis that is forever lurking over in North Korea. I don’t ever remember a time when there was so much loss in such a short period of time. Very sad.

On a lighter note, that was a strange air conditioning season. We had summer like weather in late spring and early fall, but not so much during the summer. I know we sent out the postcards a few weeks back when there was a 7 day cold spell, then back to higher temps and humidity. The minute you think you can figure out mother nature, she throws you a wammy. Go figure.

So, looks like the Bears are going to be bottom dwellers again this season. I’m still waiting for another season like ’85. Looking back, that was so awesome! I miss Da Coach, Mike Ditka. But there is good news, the Cubs are making another run for the pennant. Being an old North Sider, that is always good news.

I recently replaced the thermostat in my house. I didn’t need to, but as a promotion, dealers were given a new state of the art smart thermostat that had to be installed in our homes. They had to be registered or we will have gotten charged for them. I do not usually endorse thermostats, as we need to fit the right thermostat to the right equipment and customer, but WOW. This thing is really cool. Here’s just a brief overview. It is the Ecobee4. It is Wi-Fi enabled, like many other thermostats. That’s where the similarities end. It is also Alexa enabled, which means you can talk to it. Ask her the time, temperature inside or out, humidity inside or out, ask her to play music (yes there is a speaker of decent quality built in) or she can even tell you jokes. Plus a ton of other things. Especially if you have Amazon Prime. But wait………there’s more. It comes with one remote sensor, which senses temperature, humidity and if there is someone in the room, as does the thermostat itself. You can purchase more sensors, as it will accept more than you can use. It can use room averaging or follow you as you move from room to room. It has schedules that it can follow, but will reduce energy usage when it senses no one home. I installed my thermostat with 3 sensors and man, did I see a difference in comfort. I could go on, but I only have so much room here. Now the best part! If you have ComEd as your electric company. You can get this thermostat installed by them for $150 total. Yup, that’s $100 cheaper than you can buy it in any of the big box stores, and you get FREE installation. Some deal, eh? For those of you that do not have ComEd, if you want us to install it for you, we can do it for $95. If we supply the thermostat, that cost would be $265 plus the $95 for installation. This is a promotion for current customers only. Our normal price for that thermostat installed is $450. Additional sensors come 2 to a box and they are $95 for the box.

I hope everyone had a great summer, are enjoying this great fall weather and hope you all have a great holiday season and happy and healthy New Year.

All the best,

Larry

Fall and Winter Cleaning

Spring isn't the only time to get significant cleaning and organizing done in your home. Many major chores and deep-cleaning tasks should actually be done in the fall in order to prepare your home for the wintertime.

The summer sun is fading away, so it's time to prepare for the cold winter weather.

Outdoors

• Clean summer furniture, grills, toys and other outdoor items.
• Give your closets and overhaul
• Store away any of those items you won't wear again until spring.
• Clean gutters and downspouts.
• Inspect & turn off outside spigots and store garden hoses.
• Power wash (or thoroughly clean) windows and siding, if necessary.
• Re-caulk windows and doors as needed.
• Check and replace weather stripping.
• Touch up exterior paint as needed.

Indoors

• Vacuum the condenser coils on your fridge.
• Clean out the kitchen cabinets
• Clean dryer vent and exhaust areas.
• Flip your mattresses — end to end and front to back.
• Move your bed and other big furniture and vacuum behind/ and underneath.
• Vacuum or clean window treatments, window sills, baseboards and ceiling corners.
• Get the carpets cleaned
• Clean light fixtures and ceiling fans.
• Replace your furnace filter.
• Get a professional inspection and maintenance check on your furnace.
• Get a roof inspection if your roof is old, fix loose shingles.
• Test your smoke and carbon monoxide detectors.

General cleaning and organizing you can do, but, so you can enjoy the beauty of the fall season, let some of the projects be handled by the experts.